Power actuated hand plane



March 6, 1951 LIBBY T 2,544,098

POWER ACTUATED HAND PLANE Filed April 17, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet l Henry I Libby Donald 6. Pearson B'Y WML March 6, 1951 H. T. LIBBY ETAL 2,544,098

POWER ACTUATED HAND PLANE Filed April 17, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 will!!! (I) si- //V VE/V 70/?5 8 g Henry I L/bby Donald 6. Pearson Patented Mar. 6, 1951 POWER ACTUATED HAND PLANE Henry Thomas Libby, Somerville, and Donald Gritfin Pearson, Medford, Mass.

Application April 17, 1946. Serial No. 662,762

This invention relates to power actuated hand planes of the type in which the body or stock has a rotary cutter mounted thereon, and which is. equipped with an electric motor for actuating the cutter as the plane is manipulated by hand.

It is one of the objects of our invention to provide a power actuated hand plane which is so constructed that the motor of an ordinary portable hand drill or some other portable power unit may be used for operating the cutter, the construction being such that the hand drill motor or other portable power unit may be readily mounted on the stock or body and operatively connected to the rotary cutter, and can be as readily demounted from the body or stock when it is desired to use the motor for drilling, reaming, or other purposes. An advantage of this constructicn is that the hand plane itself can be made and sold equipped merely with the rotary cutter and drive connections thereof, and may be made available for use by the simple expedient of mounting the motor of a hand drill on the base and connecting it to said driving connections.

A hand plane comprising a base and a rotary cutter but without the motor can be manufactured at considerably less expense than if the motor for operating the cutter is built into the stock.

There are many home workshops and other small shops that are equipped with an electric hand drill, and if such a shop acquires a hand plane embodying this invention and which is equipped with the rotary cutter and driving connections therefor, the planecan be easily made available for use by simply mounting the portable hand drill motor on the stock. This makes it possible for a person owning a portable electric hand drill to use the latter not only for drilling, reaming, and other purposes, but also for operating the hand plane.

In order to give anunderstanding of our invention, we have illustrated herein a selected embodiment thereof which will now be described, after which the novel features will be pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a hand plane embodying our invention with the motor removed therefrom.

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2-2, Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a side View of the plane embodying I our invention with the hand drill motor mounted thereon.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view on a reduced scale 2 Claims. (01. 144-117) showing the construction of the body or stock.

Fig. 5 is an end view of the rotary cutter.

Fig. 6 is a side view thereof looking toward the left in Fig. 5.

Fig. 'Iis a section on the line 1'!, Fig. 3.

Our improved plane comprises a body or stock indicated generally .at l and which is preferably made of metal. Said body is formed with the bottom portion 2 and with the two upstanding sides 3, the latter extending the length of the body and being provided with wing extensions 4 at one end. The body as thus described can. conveniently be made from a blank of sheet metal which is bent to form the upstanding sides 3 with the wing extensions 4.

The wing extensions are shown as being connected by a plate5, the vertical edges 6 of which are bent laterally to overlie the inner faces of the wings, said edges 6 being rigidly secured to the wings in some suitable way as by means of spot welding, indicated at 1'.

,8 indicates the rotary cutter which is provided with cutting blades 9, said cutter being mounted on a supporting shaft In which is journaled in bearings l I, and the cutting blades operating in an opening 54 formed in the bottom 2 of the body.

For rotating the cutter, the shaft I0 is shown as. having a sprocket wheel l2 thereon which is connected by a sprocket chain I3 to another sprocket wheel I l carried by a transversely extending shaft {5 which is mounted in suitable bearings it carried by the wing extensions 4. Said bearings it may be welded to the wings if desired as shown at IT. The shaft has a bevel gear l8 thereon which meshes with a driving bevel gear [9 carried on a drive shaft 20 that extends through and is journaled in bearings 2| that are mounted on the supporting plate 5, said bearings 2| preferably being welded to the plate as indicated at 22. The drive shaft 2!] has a free end 5!! which is adapted to be connected to or engaged by the chuck 23 of a portable power unit such as the portable shown at 24 in Fig. 3, which is detachably mounted on the body I.

Any suitable means may be employed for thus detachably mounting the motor unit 24 on the body. As herein shown, however, each sidewall 3 of the body has a supporting plate 25 secured thereto on the inside thereof, each plate being spaced. from the wall slightly and being provided with a slot 26 which receives the end of arod or shaft 2'1. Each supporting plate 25 is shown as having its ends offset as indicated at 28, the offset ends being welded to the side walls 3.

clamping members 29 provide a firm engagement.

between the clamping members and the. portion 3| of the handle 32 which holds the drill in proper position.

In mounting the drill motor unit 2 |.;on.thev body, the chuck 23 is opened suflicientlyto .receive the free end of the drive shaft 20, and the said unit is then placed in position witlrthe chuck embracing said free end 50 of the shaft, the portion 3| of. the handleofthe drill being placed between. the clampingmembers 29 in a position tov bring the, axis of the shaft, of the drill in substantial alignment with the drive shaft .20.

. The clamping. nut 34 is then. tightened so as to clamp the handle .of the drill firmly in position between the clamping. members.

Ahand planethusequippedis ready for operation,. the .motor being controlled: in theusual way by the control element 35-.

-Means, are. providedfor raising and lowering the cutter-head, depending upon the depth of out whichit. is desired to make. For this purpose, the bearings II for the cutter head shaft Ill. aremountedon arms 36situated inside of the side walls of the body and pivotally mounted at one end on a. supporting shaft or rod 31 which extends from one .side wall 3 to the other.

The outer end .of the. arms36 are connected by a cross bar 38. .39 indicates an adjusting screw having a .knurled head' 53,. the lower end of which. screw is screw threaded through the cross bar38. Said screw extends through a stationary support 40 and-is provided with a collar 4 which rests on said support. Situated between the support and the cross bar 38 is a coil spring 12 which encircles. the lowerend of the adjusting screw39 .andthusexerts a yielding downward pressure against the outer. end of the arms 36, and hence againstthe cutter. head 8 The support 43 is provided with a vertical portion Ma and a foot portionAZa, the latter being. welded or otherwisesecured to the -bottom 2..of the body I.

.By turning the adjusting screw. 39 in one directiornthe outer ends ofthe arms 36 willbe raised, thereby raising the. cutter head, while turning. movement of the adjusting screw in the opposite directionwill permit thencrossbar. 38 and the arms 39-to movedownwardly under the influence of. thespring 42. It will be noted that the shaft .|5 carrying the sprocket: wheel M rotates in fixed bearings. while .the'shaft Ill of the cutter is: adjustable verticallyfor making cuts of different depths. It will also be noted that because the shaft I5 is located in front of the supporting plate 5 while the-shaft) is .at the rear of said plate, a line connecting said shafts makes a-relatively small angle with the arms 36. Because of this construction the'slight vertical movement of the shaft I0 due to any normal adjustment of the cutter does not appreciably vary the. tension on thesprocket chain so that said sprocket chainwilloperate equally well in all adjusted positions of the cutter.

43 indicates a cover plate, the edges of which rest on the edges of the wing extensions 4. Said cover plate is connected at its lower end by means of a screw 45 to a lug 44 carried by the bottom 2 of the body, and the upper edge of the cover plate is shown as bent downwardly so as to overlie the upper edge of the supporting plate 5 as indicated at 46, said downwardly bent edge 46 being secured to the plate 5 by means of a screw 41.

48 indicates a hand hold which is secured to and rises from the cover plate 43.

. In .usingthe plane after the motor has been installed thereon, the operator will grasp the hand hold 48 with. one hand and the handle 32 :ofwthe. drill motor with the other and, and in this way he can readily manipulate the plane as necessary to perform any desired planing operation.

The drive shaft section 20 will preferably be provided-with a. universal joint. 39 so as to prevent.- any binding. of the operative parts in case the shaft. of the motor is not accurately lined up with the axis of the drive shaft 26.

If desired, the portion of the sprocket chain outside of the plate 5 may be enclosed by a protective cover 52.

, 5| indicates atransverse reenforcing member which is. illustrated as being angular in cross sectional shape and which extends between and has its ends welded or otherwise-secured to the side walls 30f. the body.

While we have herein illustrated ahand plane construction adapted to have a portable hand drill .motor mounted thereon, yet the invention would. not be departed from if a portable power unit designed for some other purpose than drilling, reaming, etc., were detachably mounted on the body and connected to the drive shaft 20.

We claim:

1. A power actuated hand plane comprising an elongated body having av bottom portion to rest on the work and provided with a cutter-receiving opening, said body having upstanding sides, each of which is formed at the frontendthereof with a wide wing extension, a rotary cutter operatingin said opening, cutter-supporting means by which the cutter can be adjusted vertically, an upstanding shaft-supporting plate extending from one wing extension to the other and rigidly secured to both, said plate being located. in front of thecutter-receiving opening, ashaft bearing carried by said plate, a drive shaft iournaled in said bearing and extending throughsaid plate and substantially longitudinally of the body, said shaft having a free rear end on the rear side of the plate, a horizontal shaft journaled-in said wing extensions and located on the front side of the plate, gearing operatively connecting the front end of the drive shaft to the horizontal shaft, a sprocket chain driving connection between the horizontal shaft and the cutter, the sprocket chain of which extends forwardly through the upstanding plate and inclines upwardly from the rotary cutter at a relatively small angle to said bottom portion, whereby the tension on the sprocket chain is not appreciably affected by the vertical adjustment of the cutter, and means for removably mounting on the body at the rear end thereof an electric power 'unit having'provision for detachably coupling it to the free end of said drive shaft.

2. A power actuated hand planecomprising an elongated body having a bottom portion to rest ,on the work and provided with a cutter -receiving r 5 opening, said body having upstanding sides, each of which is formed at the front end thereof with a wide wing extension, a rotary cutter operating in said opening, cutter-supporting means by which the cutter can be adjusted vertically, an upstanding shaft-supporting plate extending from one wing extension to the other and rigidly secured to both, said plate being located in front of the cutter-receiving opening, a shaft bearing carried by said plate, a drive shaft journaled in said bearing and extending through said plate and substantially longitudinally of the body, said shaft having a, free rear end on the rear side of the plate, a horizontal shaft journaled in said Wing extensions and located on the front side of the plate, gearing operatively connecting the front end of the drive shaft to the horizontal shaft, a sprocket chain driving connection between the horizontal shaft and the cutter, the sprocket chain of which extends through the upstanding plate, a pair of clamping members mounted on the body at the rear end thereof and adjustable lengthwise of the body, said clamping members adapted to receive between them a portion of an electric power unit which has provi- 6 sion for detachably coupling it to the free end of the drive shaft, and means to clamp said clamping members firmly to said portion of the power unit.

HENRY THOMAS LIBBY. DONALD GRIFFIN PEARSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the 

